A
bigger full range speaker is
better than a
smaller speaker.
A smaller speaker will shear the bottom two or three octaves of your
favorite music or movie soundtrack. This is analogous to cropping the
bottom third of a photo. More precisely, downsizing to a smaller
speaker is the equivalent of removing much of the red pigmentation or
hue from a treasured painting’s color balance. Smaller speakers do not reproduce a complete audio picture.
If
a speaker can
accurately reproduce natural acoustic music,
then it
will accurately reproduce movie soundtracks.
A substantial measure of a movie soundtrack is made of artificial
sound effects. And though our children may not believe us, we do
not
know what a dinosaur actually sounds like. However, music is real.
Therefore, use music as a reference to judge a speaker’s fidelity.
A
speaker should be placed at ear level and away from room boundaries.
A speaker placed at ear level sounds better,
as a painting or photo looks best when
viewed at eye level. Proper
speaker placement will minimize problems created by the room’s
acoustics.

Speaker
and listener placement

Richard
Hardesty, the
Audio
Perfectionist,
stated,
“The goal of optimally positioning the speakers and the listener
within the room is to make the sound from the speakers more prominent
and the sound from the room less prominent.” The
initial issue is the distance from the speaker to a room boundary. It
is inversely related to the level of the reflected sound’s
amplitude. That is, the reflected sound is louder if the speaker is
closer to a boundary. It is less loud if it is farther away.
Therefore, move the speaker away from the room boundaries,
particularly the wall behind the speaker. Three feet is a minimum
recommendation. More is better. However, the placement of the speaker
and the listener should avoid problem room mode peaks and nulls.
The
following directions will guide you through the maze of acoustical
obstacles. Begin your project with a sketch of the floor plan.
Identify the room mode peak/null points of each dimension. Then
proceed with the following.

Front left and right speaker placement

I was introduced to the following
procedure many years ago by my late friend Steve Mounkes. As will
be explained in more detail in Chapter 7 -- this may be the most
practical audio application offered on this website. Calculate
and choose feasible front left and right speaker positions. First,
measure the width
of the room. Divide
this measurement by the values 3,
5,
7,
and 9.
With the results, measure and mark these points along the width of
the room from the left corner and then the right corner. Nextmeasure the length
of the room. Using this dimension, calculate the
room length points. Divide by the same odd values. Mark these points
along the room length from the front left and right corners. Now observe
the on-floor
coordinates
established by the width and length points. While avoiding coordinates that are equal, choose a practical pair as
positions for your front left and right speaker.

Locate
the sweet spot

While
avoiding room mode peaks and nulls, place a chair with the front left
and right speakers in an equilateral
triangle. This creates an
inclusive angle of 60 degrees from the chair to the front left and
right speakers. While
seated, listen to a stereo recording. Move the chair slightly forward
or back of the initial position. Adjust the cant or focus of the
speakers toward the listener. The sweet spot or optimal listening
position is at the point where the stereo recording falls into stereo
focus. The
listening position for stereo is also the ideal
seating location for
a surround sound system. However additional seating is probably
desirable. Therefore, carefully select additional positions that are
comfortable and practical. But avoid room mode peaks & nulls. If
your system is stereo only with a sub
woofer, then move ahead to Sub
woofer Placement.
If
the system is a stereo
and video system without a sub woofer, then skip to The
TV
. If
this is a stereo
music-only system, then advance to Loose
Ends.
If the audio system is a multi-channel surround system, then continue
with the remaining speaker placement instructions in the next page.